26 | S o c i a l S c i e n c e R e s e a r c h
nomothetic explanations seek to explain a class of situations or events rather than a specific
situation or event. For example, students who do poorly in exams do so because they did not
spend adequate time preparing for exams or that they suffer from nervousness, attention-
deficit, or some other medical disorder. Because nomothetic explanations are designed to be
generalizable across situations, events, or people, they tend to be less precise, less complete,
and less detailed. However, they explain economically, using only a few explanatory variables.
Because theories are also intended to serve as generalized explanations for patterns of events,
behaviors, or phenomena, theoretical explanations are generally nomothetic in nature.
While understanding theories, it is also important to understand what theory is not.
Theory is not data, facts, typologies, taxonomies, or empirical findings. A collection of facts is
not a theory, just as a pile of stones is not a house. Likewise, a collection of constructs (e.g., a
typology of constructs) is not a theory, because theories must go well beyond constructs to
include propositions, explanations, and boundary conditions. Data, facts, and findings operate
at the empirical or observational level, while theories operate at a conceptual level and are
based on logic rather than observations.
There are many benefits to using theories in research. First, theories provide the
underlying logic of the occurrence of natural or social phenomenon by explaining what are the
key drivers and key outcomes of the target phenomenon and why, and what underlying
processes are responsible driving that phenomenon. Second, they aid in sense-making by
helping us synthesize prior empirical findings within a theoretical framework and reconcile
contradictory findings by discovering contingent factors influencing the relationship between
two constructs in different studies. Third, theories provide guidance for future research by
helping identify constructs and relationships that are worthy of further research. Fourth,
theories can contribute to cumulative knowledge building by bridging gaps between other
theories and by causing existing theories to be reevaluated in a new light.
However, theories can also have their own share of limitations. As simplified
explanations of reality, theories may not always provide adequate explanations of the
phenomenon of interest based on a limited set of constructs and relationships. Theories are
designed to be simple and parsimonious explanations, while reality may be significantly more
complex. Furthermore, theories may impose blinders or limit researchers’ “range of vision,”
causing them to miss out on important concepts that are not defined by the theory.
Building Blocks of a Theory
David Whetten (1989) suggests that there are four building blocks of a theory:
constructs, propositions, logic, and boundary conditions/assumptions. Constructs capture the
“what” of theories (i.e., what concepts are important for explaining a phenomenon),
propositions capture the “how” (i.e., how are these concepts related to each other), logic
represents the “why” (i.e., why are these concepts related), and boundary
conditions/assumptions examines the “who, when, and where” (i.e., under what circumstances
will these concepts and relationships work). Though constructs and propositions were
previously discussed in Chapter 2, we describe them again here for the sake of completeness.
Constructs are abstract concepts specified at a high level of abstraction that are chosen
specifically to explain the phenomenon of interest. Recall from Chapter 2 that constructs may
be unidimensional (i.e., embody a single concept), such as weight or age, or multi-dimensional
(i.e., embody multiple underlying concepts), such as personality or culture. While some